The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-07-28
ICE CREAM POISONING.
The Noxious Agent that Causes the
Trouble.
Experiments Of Dr. Vaughan Of Ann
Arbor.

[From the Annual Report of the Maine State
Board of HEALTH
During the past year several cases of poi
soning from milk and its products have
come to the attention of the Board.
Poisoning ON a small scale occurred in
Bangor from the use of milk. 1t seems that
four children in one family and one in anoth-
er made their breakfast chiefly of milk pur-
chased of grocer. The milk was said to
have been brought in from the country that
same morning. Three hours after their
breakfast, at different schools, the children
were attacked with vomiting and later with
diarrh9a. The grocer took one quart,
which was used in coffee, and had an attack
of vomiting an hour or two afterward.
Another family, who had the fourth quart
out of this gallon can, used it in coffee and
was not affected by it. The Board received
avery small quantity of this milk, three or
four drachms only being obtainable, but, as
there was doubt in regard to the genuine
ness of this small specimen, series of bio
logical tests which was begun was discon-
tinued after yielding only negative results.
Another instance of poisoning on much
larger scale occurred at Eastport. July %,
1886, at church sociable in that town, many
persons partook of ice cream. The company
dispersed about half past ten in the evening,
ana in an hour afterwards some of them be-
came very sick, and by midnight all of the
physicians in the place were on active duty.
About sixty persons were made SICK and
the condition of some of them became alarm
ing. The symptoms usually began with
nausea and vomiting, and the vomiting in
lavaaa
Diarrh9a came on later, and the purging
was severe in some cases. Other symptoms
were abdominal pains, a burning sensation
In the stomach. pain and cramps in the mus
nance, GOODNESS of the extremities, and a
pulse feeble, and. in some cases, almost i'm
perceptible.
Those only who partook of the ice cream
which was favored with vanilla became
sick. Those who ate of the lemon-flayored
cream were spared.
Cases of poisoning of the kinds which have
been indicated have for long time been
known, and their occurrence is somewhat
frequent. The close similarity of the symp-
toms to those produced by some of the min
eral p0isons, notably arsenic, has often Great
ed suspicious of the accidental or intentional
addition of these n0n-organic poisons. Chem
ical analysis in many OF these suspicious
cases has given only negative results. In the
absence of any detachable mineral poison, the
the fiavoring extracts, particularly to the va
nilla; and, in the case of milk and its prod
ucts, to poisonous plants eaten by the cows.
and to certain changes in the milk, curd or
cheese due to the early stages of fermenta-
ton or decomposition. As regards the first
the observation has often been made that
in ice cream poisoning, it is usually the va
nila flayoring which bears the weight of
suspicion, for the reason that those who had
eaten of only the cream which was favored
with extracts other than the vanilla were not
made sick. On the other hand, experiments
on man and animals with the suspected va
nilla extract have usually been followed with
no symptoms of poisoning. Neither have the
attempts to fix the blame upon the cows been
successful. In regard to the third sugges-
ton, that relating to a supposed change in
the milk after it leaves the cow, there is more
to support it. Twenty years ago 1t was dis
covered that in animal and human tissues af-
ter death there occurred an alkaloidal sub
stance apparently generated by the ret
rograde metamorphosis of the elements of
the dead animal tissues. In subsequent years
it became apparent that there are many Of
these DtOmdines, as they are called, and their
isolation and experiments with them show
that some of them are capable OF producing
symptoms similar to the more poisonous veg
etable alkaloids.
1t was said by a leading German toxicolo-
gist in 1882, that of the ptOmaines then known
none produced symptoms, when tested upon
animals, which closely resemble those of
cholera morbus, as we see in marked form
IN some cases OF cheese and fish poisoning.
1t was reserved for. DIR. Vaughan, of Ann
ArDor, Mlch., TO discover an alkaloid which
produces these choleraic symptoms, and